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Under the Pension Protection Act of 2006, charitable donors over the age of 70 ½ may make contributions of up to $100,000 per year directly to a charity from their IRA without including the Qualified Charitable Distribution in their income. Because these distributions are not included in income, there is no corresponding charitable deduction for the gift. This can be better than a charitable deduction on taxable income, however, because it may lower the donor’s overall tax rate and counts as a minimum required distribution. This opportunity is only available for the 2006 and 2007 tax years, and only applies to direct gifts from the IRA to a tax exempt charity. It does not apply to gifts to grant making foundations or other supporting charities, donor advised funds, charitable gift annuities, or charitable remainder trusts. This may be an attractive way for some donors to make charitable gifts with pre-tax dollars since they can receive the equivalent of a charitable deduction without having to itemize deductions. Large donors limited by the 50% of AGI cap on charitable deductions or the 2% of AGI reduction to itemized deductions will particulary enjoy this new opportunity, since additional Qualified Charitable Distributions from an IRA are not subject to those limits. For more information on the qualifications for IRA charitable distributions you can visit http://www.pgdc.com/bhcsf/item/?itemID=368499.